Album Review: Loon Lake - Gloamer

It's about time Loon Lake released their debut LP. After bouncing around the indie music scene for nearly three years and releasing two stellar EPs, they've finally put together enough electric riffs and catchy break-up songs for a long-player. Produced by Steven Schram (San Cisco, Little Red) and drummer Nick Nolan, Gloamer has its fair share of accessible pop tunes, such as City Lights and On Fire. Yet the record successfully manages to do more than catch the eye of those interested in glitter-tinted choruses and other such shiny things.

The boys from rural Victoria will be the first to admit that tracks like 2012 hit Cherry Lips don't take a lot of mental strain to write. But then there are songs like middle track Bones, which draws out a sense of melancholic hopelessness, and Love Gets Done, which will invigorate eardrums with its epic guitar solo. It Was Only Love, a revamp of one of the band's first songs, Good Times, adds synthesisers and decent production values to a great break-up song. Finale Goodbye Forever is unlike anything we've previously heard from the Nolan brothers and co., as lead singer Sam Nolan gives his best Stephen Malkmus impersonation on a lo-fi track filled with longing and regret.

Interspersed with guitar solos and synth-heavy backings, Gloamer demonstrates an inclination towards something beyond the blend of garage-pop Loon Lake are accustomed to brewing, and the results are sweet.